Credentials & Achievements
Managing Partner & Cofounder of BEVSA Practice
Vascular Surgeon
Clinical Associate Professor
An Interview with Dr. Sonya Noor
We interviewed Dr. Noor on her experience at TrainSMART and how the TrainSMART team helped her achieve her health and fitness goals.
Why did you choose TrainSMART?
“I chose TrainSMART because a colleague of mine who worked with me at Gates Vascular Institute was working out at this new gym called TrainSMART. He told me about it, and I was basically complaining to him about how standing all day wearing lead, my back was really bothering me. He had similar problems because he was an interventional cardiologist, and he said, ‘Why don’t you try this new gym that I’m working at? They really focus on your core and helping it to be stronger,’ and his back pain was significantly better. So I went to TrainSMART, made an appointment with Joe Fox, met him, and—this is the honest truth—after I listened to his spiel, said to him, ‘You’re full of shit.’ But I signed up anyway. And after I signed up, I quickly realized that these kinds of work outs definitely work if you’re consistent at them and disciplined. So I’m very happy that I joined TrainSMART, and I really feel much better. My back pain is much better.”
What makes you keep coming back?
“What I found about TrainSMART which they do different than other people is you kind of design your own program. So they customize it for you. They evaluate your strength and flexibility. They look at your goals, and they come up with a unique program designed just for you. So when I started out, some of my goals were getting rid of the low back pain, so I had to focus on core, and I’ve been active my whole life, but I’ve never really done the exercises that TrainSMART had designed for me to do. And what I found was—I got better and better at strengthening my core, better endurance, and as my goals changed—so I went from having lower back pain issues to I had bad knees to wanting to play better tennis—my program changed accordingly, and I was able to really reach my goals.
The other thing that they have is called an in-body fitness scale that breaks down your weight, muscle mass, and your fat percentage. And I’m data-driven, so being able to watch progress with that getting better or worse, if I slipped up, it would get worse, if I stayed consistent it would get better, helped me make better decisions, motivate me to stay healthy, and I like being able to see those results in that way.”
How would you describe the owners, coaches, and the culture at TrainSMART?
“TrainSMART is an interesting organization in that they are really dedicated to continuous education and improving their own skills and education which is something I obviously appreciate, being a medical professional myself with the continuing education that we have to do. So they’re open to feedback, they constantly are learning, they listen to you, and really, they design a program for you that’s actually free. So being able to meet your fitness goals, have less injuries, really enjoying it as you’re doing it in a group of people that are constantly learning is a great environment, I think. And I think that is one of the best things I loved about TrainSMART.
The other thing I would say is, I travel a little bit, I have to go to conferences, sometimes it’s just vacation. I’ll just take my iPad with me, they will then give me something, like I can take my TRX with me or bands with me, and I can pretty much do a decent workout once or twice a week, even when I’m on vacation and not have to skip a day. Which I think being consistent helps, and they make it easy for you to do that.”
What are the most important things that TrainSMART has helped you accomplish?
“I think life is about balance. It’s about mental well-being. It’s about physical well-being. In my opinion, I think we were put on this planet to be our highest, best selves, and in order to do that, you have to have a good, strong physical and mental makeup. Physically speaking, if you take your health seriously, then I think having time or making the discipline and consistency to work out, they make it easy for you where you’re able to do it no matter where you are. You pick and choose what time you want to do it, what coach you want to do it with, because they all have different styles. This allows you to get much better and enjoy your work out. I feel healthier, I feel stronger, my back pain is almost completely gone. Occasionally, if I have a long day, I have to do more stretches. My knee pain is significantly better. I’m 52 years old, I learned how to ski last year, and I never thought I would be able to do that, my core is stronger, so I am looking forward to ski season this year, because I know that is something I can do with my family. That is what TrainSMART gives me that no other fitness scheduler like Zumba or step class or other online work outs have done for me.”
What would you say to someone who is thinking about becoming a client to TrainSMART?
“Well I think if you take your health seriously, which I really hope you do, then TrainSMART is a really good way to have a customized work out that will work for you, at your frequency, at your level, they will push you, and you will reach your goals. So whether you have a job that allows you to work out 5 days a week or 2 days a week, you can come up with your own schedule, you can work out with the coach of your liking, they all have different styles, and you can measure your goals and your successes either with how you feel, is your pain better, is your soreness better, are you more flexible, if you’re playing a sport, are you playing better… All of these things in addition to your weight, the size of clothes you are wearing for example, your nutrition, I mean all of those things you start seeing results on that I have not had that kind of success in all these things I’ve done. So I highly recommend TrainSMART if you’re serious about what you want to do, you’re willing to be consistent and disciplined. They can really customize a plan that will work for you that will evolve as you evolve.”
Anything else you'd like to add?
“I believe in TrainSMART enough that not only that I continue to be a client at TrainSMART, I have a very close friend of mine who uses TrainSMART, the person recording this video, my son sitting on the other side of the screen, he is now a client at TrainSMART and will often workout online from home in two different parts of the house, my sister who lives in India, she gets a zoom workout with TrainSMART, and I wouldn’t encourage all these people to do it if I really didn’t believe in the product. So, I wish you well, I hope this helps you, and I hope to see you in the gym someday!”